Pollard Takes The Cover Of 100th Issue Of Magnet.

GBV Triple Single Onslaught.

Limited edition single #1: 

"Everywhere Is Miles From Everywhere" / non-LP b-side "The World’s Getting Smaller"

Limited edition single #2: 

"White Flag" / non-LP b-side “Casino Model”

Limited edition single #3: 

"Hangover Child" / non-LP b-side “Urchin Promise”

Dayton Ohio Declares July 2012 Guided By Voices Month!

Watch Guided By Voices On Letterman Tonight!

Guided By Voices "Doughnut For A Snowman"

  Guided By Voices - Doughnut For A Snowman by FIRE RECORDS

"Doughnut For A Snowman" from the upcoming "classic lineup" GBV album Lets Go Eat The Factory. Pre-order CD or vinyl LP HERE.

GBV In Spin.

GBV Doubleshot.

Classic lineup Guided By Voices on the cover of current issues of Ghettoblaster and the recently revamped Magnet Magazine.

Apparently Jay Carney Digs GBV.

An interesting piece of Guided By Voices trivial trivia was posted by The Daily Swam yesterday:

Hot Freaks!: White House Spokesman Jay Carney Outs Himself As Massive Guided By Voices Fan...
New York Times 

New York Times: Mr. Carney is not so silent in another way. He is the lead singer of a band — a hobby and a passion second only to his devotion to the cult band “Guided by Voices.” As for any tapes of Mr. Carney actually singing, Mr. Attie joked, “The tapes can’t be revealed because Jay is an assistant to the president and they might be used for blackmail.” Anyway, he said, “There are a missing 18 minutes.”

Slate: Rockin’ Jay Carney: Responding to a question about Frank Sinatra’s impact on popular culture, Jay Carney announces that Guided by Voices, the Dayton, Ohio, riff-rockers, are his favorite band.

Indie Rock Journalism & Boston Spaceships.

A couple press quotes for the Boston Spaceships' latest contribution to the world Zero to 99.

"It is somehow 2009, five years on from the dissolution of lo-fi heroes Guided by Voices and at least 10 since the agreed-upon peak of his powers, and Bob Pollard's making some of the best music of his life. Three albums deep into the Boston Spaceships and the prolific songwriter is on a tear to rival a few of his best-ever runs." - Pitchfork

"When we got an advance copy this summer of the excellent new Boston Spaceships album, Zero To 99 (out next week on GBV Inc.), we were immediately floored by track two, 'How Wrong You Are,' possibly the best song Robert Pollard has recorded since the demise of Guided By Voices." - Magnet

Boston Spaceships On Pitchfork.tv.

Pitchfork.tv: Boston Spaceships (Robert Pollard with John Moen of Decemberists): "Winston's Atomic Bird" [Video]

At the rate Robert Pollard forms bands, it'd be a shame to get him sidetracked coming up with video ideas, too. Pollard's newest group, Boston Spaceships, which also features John Moen (Decemberists, Perhapts) and Chris Slusarenko (Guided by Voices, the Takeovers), held one of these new-fangled fan contests to select a clip for "Winston's Atomic Bird", a brawny classic-rocker from the band's new Brown Submarine. The winning entry, directed by The Man Sherm, revolves around a man who takes a coat from a suitcase on a beach and then plays cards with a character in a mask (a reference to the cover of GBV's Mag Earwig). Another guy, this one in a Robert Pollard mask, looks on, as the game winner takes a trip that leaves us with that old "X-Files" slogan: "I want to believe." Original post.



Upcoming Boston Spaceships live dates:
9/25 Cincinnati, OH @ Midpoint Music Festival
9/26 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
9/27 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
9/29 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
9/30 Boston, MA @ Paradise
10/1 New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
10/3 Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
10/4 Dayton, OH @ Dayton Music Fest
10/6 Chicago, IL @ Double Door
10/7 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
10/9 Champaign, IL @ High Dive
10/10 St. Louis, MO @ Bluebird
10/11 Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone
10/14 Austin, TX @ The Parish
10/15 Dallas, TX @ The Loft
10/17 Atlanta, GA @ E.A.R.L.
10/18 Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge

Just Like Old Times - Pollard On Pitchfork.

Robert Pollard
Robert Pollard Is Off to Business
[Guided By Voices, Inc.; 2008]
Rating: 6.9
Original review

There's really no twist with Robert Pollard Is Off to Business, which maybe qualifies it as the greatest twist Pollard's pulled off in his post-GBV career. Composed of 10 songs clocking in at an average of three-and-a-half minutes each, Business showcases Pollard at his most conventional since, well, probably ever. He's also never leaned so heavily on long-time producer/multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias, whose lush, expansive arrangements make Business sound shockingly MOR, especially coming from the king of tape hiss. Yet despite what sounds on paper like an over-the-hill artist throwing in the towel and finally sounding his age, Business only further attests to Pollard's unique abilities.

Always one to seek pop bliss from the most seemingly unpalatable places, Pollard approaches his classic rock influences on their own terms here. While 1970s power pop, arena rock, and MOR bands have always flavored his canon, he's never interpreted them as literally as he does on these meaty numbers. Whereas Pollard's previous album (Superman Was a Rocker, released just a few moons ago) saw him retooling old instrumental tracks, Business basically retools his record recollection. Just listen to how the stutter-stepping acoustic guitar of opener "The Original Heart" cops Led Zep's Houses of the Holy opener "The Song Remains the Same", or the acoustic pop charm of Big Star clones "The Blondes" and "Wealth and Hell-Being".

Just as the lo-fi vs. hi-fi debate has always been pretty fruitless with earlier material, Pollard's super hi-fi sound on Business isn't any more the story here than the suddenly slick production was on, say, 1996's professional-sounding Under the Bushes Under the Stars. "Gratification to Concrete" may feature a wah-wah guitar effect set to "Frampton", but ultimately it's muscular pop that can be learned in forty bucks worth of guitar lessons. Despite regal strings and an Eastern-tinged guitar, "To the Path!" isn't trying to match "Kashmir"'s bombast, especially when a proudly disjointed riff deflates the track's dramatic heightening. In case you're still concerned Pollard's gone heavy-handed on us, there's also loads of brainy power pop ("1 Years Old" being a highlight) and an ugly acoustic ballad titled "Confessions of a Teenage Jerk-Off".

Although Business ultimately ranks as yet another less-than-legendary offering from a living indie legend, its shortcomings are much more nuanced than typical Pollard releases. Not one track here merits swift deletion; Pollard packs too many ideas and sections into each one to render any completely unredeemable. The obvious drawback, though, is a relatively sluggish pace, especially on a grungey number like "No One But I" or closer "Wealth and Hell-Being"'s neverending outro. Still, Pollard embraces his rock icons at their most overblown here, and, despite his canon stretching around the world, Business manages to sound like something we haven't quite heard before on previous Pollard albums.

-Adam Moerder, June 10, 2008